Makes me wonder if these long holidays are really for the kids or more for the teachers. Seems to me when I went to school xmas was the longest break of the year, not including summer holidays, and Easter was merely a short blip in the school year. Now they need a holiday on top of a holiday to extend it to over 2 weeks off. No wonder kids have such a difficult time actually learning anything in the 6 months they go to school each year.

And the Friday after spring break is a non instructional day. I assume that is the new term for pro-d day ?

Yes NID is the new Pro-D day – draw your conclusions here
http://www.sd57.bc.ca/fileadmin/cao.sd57.bc.ca/District_Info/Calendar/2013-2014_Calendar__approved.pdf

I’m pretty sure teachers have nothing to do with holiday decisions. As far as I am aware they are all cost-saving decisions made by the school board.

“Pro-D” infers that there is some sort of professional developemnt is happening. i.e. the teachers are taking a course or something like that. It’s clear that this isn’t the case.

NID probably is a truer description of what is going on. I’m not sure if the teachers are still in the school on that day or they are working the same hours that they normally would, or…?

Spring break came about because of “spring breakup” in the forestry / logging industry. Back in the day, forestry / logging was the dominate industry, with so many workers not working, it was thought that schools could be closed so families could spend time together.

Sorry, nothing to do with teachers!

Peeps if you had come up with spring break was due to farmers needing their kids to spread the seedc around it would be more believable. Spring break goes back to ancient Greece, more than likely for easter and its varying spring rites and not just BC loggers.

If the teachers and high school/college/university students need spring break to spread their seed around that is one thing but for elementary school I would say it is for the teachers and not really for the students ‘needs’

Spring break = spring breakup = dodo reasoning. I didn’t know BC loggers dictated International school breaks.

I was going to say as much, ‘Huh’, but you beat me to it. We’re very used to Peep’s faulty logic around here.

“SPRING break now sprawls across international borders, with students either welcomed as free-spenders or shunned for being little more than drunken mobs.”

“It seems to have started out innocently enough. The Colgate University swim coach worried that his 1934-35 team might get out of shape during Christmas break. A student’s father, who lived in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., suggested the team train at a big new pool in the city.”

“So they did. As the first Northerners to swim there, the group was warmly welcomed. Word started to spread among college students that the city was great to visit in winter and, eventually, spring.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/weekinreview/19marsh.html?_r=0

There are differences between the timing of school breaks across school districts, up here it is school districts with dominate forest industries that time their school breaks more in line with “spring breakup” in wood harvesting.

We could put our heads together and find the origins and timing of spring break… but that takes research and learning, sorry, my bad. Maybe gus can contribute something here?

I was there this morning. This was not the teachers. I watched the firemen come out after standing out in front of the school for 15 minutes not knowing what was going on. I think the teachers were just as shocked when they were told school was canceled.

“Logger’s Spring Break up”? trucks are still hauling for at least another week- maybe into April. Who’s in charge of the timing?

“Logger’s Spring Break up”? trucks are still hauling for at least another week- maybe into April. Who’s in charge of the timing?

Why is that the mere mention of a school starts the yokels of PG teacher bashing? For anyone really interested in what happens on a Pro-D Day, have a look at the website for the next one, http://springflingconference.weebly.com/

JohnnyBelt, sweetie – um…. on that Friday in April, SD57 teachers will all be at a conference with speakers, breakout sessions, and classes on topics they need to know about. All Day!

How do I know, well a member of my household had to register online a month ago for this day of training. And on the NI days when there are no conferences, they work together in the school to teach each other new techniques, or learn new computer systems, and maybe develop coping skills to handle kids who are struggling in the system.

And by the way, just in case you think this is teaching is ‘easy’ – let me assure you that the hours put in at home after the kids are gone, are considerable. My family member puts in an average of 3 hours a day at home after supper to be prepared for the next, day, week, month, including at least one of the weekend days.

So, let’s move on and consider the teachers have earned an opportunity to learn how new ideas to make their job better. And don’t forget many teachers spend several weeks of the summer, taking further education at university, and are back in the classroom to get ready about 2 weeks before your darling children show up in September.

Peeps, don’t confuse modern day ruckus of ‘Spring Break’ with the origin of the spring Easter Holiday in schools.

Ft Lauderdale began with a hurricane and building of a pool in the 20s to attract people to the region – and the coach and swimming practice association started during the Christmas Break in the 30s which moved to the spring Easter Holidays in the 50s. The novel in the 50s on where the boys are started the modern day ‘spring break’ phenomena but was not the origin of the Easter Holiday which predates it and is now called March Break or Spring Break.

Not all teachers go to things on Pro-D days. I remember last year actually golfing with two teachers on a Pro-D Day.

missing: “JohnnyBelt, sweetie – um…. on that Friday in April, SD57 teachers will all be at a conference with speakers, breakout sessions, and classes on topics they need to know about. All Day! “

So you’re saying they do this sort of thing every Pro-D day? Moose seems to have evidence to the contrary… sweetie.

I wonder states; “”Logger’s Spring Break up”? trucks are still hauling for at least another week- maybe into April. Who’s in charge of the timing?”

Exactly; which is why School District #91 Nechako Lake’s spring break does not start for another week. The School Boards in each school district are in charge of the timing… to answer both your questions.

Teachers are certainly not allowed to golf on Professional Development. If they were caught they would be suspended for time theft. A recent case of teacher time theft in Nanaimo had a teacher call in sick to act as a driver for a basketball team. She was suspended 20 working days.

The only ways I can think of getting out of a NID would be if you were sick or on a school leave such as coaching a school team, so obviously not golfing. Or if you were not a 1.0 teacher. If you were a 0.5 teacher you are expected to attend half of the NID days. With that said, many 0.5’s attend all NID’s.

NID’s are taken very seriously. In my district they are the only days that we are not allowed to use personal leave days or days in lieu.

In the interest of clearing up some other misconceptions.

1. While spring break is now two weeks and certainly used to be one. This “extra week of vacation” as some of you are calling it is made up for by extending class instructional times. Some districts add minutes to each day, etc. Some companies have employees work 1 hour longer monday to thursday to let employees out Friday afternoons. This is not much different than that. While we are at it. The school calendar is made up by the district and not teachers.

2. Professional development days were added to the school calendar in 1972. Teachers had to bargain for these days. Some districts added days to the school year, while others added minutes to each day to make up for lost instructional time. Many pro-d day activities are open to the public if you’d just go and actually ask. I dare one of you to head into a school office, and ask to join. They will likely welcome your participation. You can then see what really goes on, instead of what you hear talked about.